System, method and apparatus for gathering student loan information

ABSTRACT

An application for a method of originating a consolidated student loan includes logging onto a student loan summary page and copying all loan summary information from the student loan summary page onto a clipboard then pasting the loan summary information from the clipboard into an insertion box of a loan consolidation data input screen. Next, the loan summary information is parsed from the insertion box into individual data segments and target data fields are populated with the individual data segments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. application titled, “System, Methodand Apparatus for Selective Pasting,” which was filed on even dateherewith; attorney docket number 2425.1 and inventors Marc J. Burlingand Matthew A. Stertz.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of gathering loan originationinformation and more particularly to a system for copying loaninformation from one web page and selectively pasting that informationinto another web page.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cut and Paste operations are routine to many computer users. A selectionof information is made on one set of text and/or images, the copyfunction is executed, a destination location is selected and the pastefunction is executed, copying all of the selected text and/or imagesinto the destination location.

Shortcuts are available to reduce the amount of time required to performsuch operations. For example, on some computer systems, to execute thecopy function, one holds the control key (Ctrl) while pressing the ‘C’key (abbreviated Ctrl-C). Similarly, to paste, one holds the control key(Ctrl) while pressing the ‘V’ key (abbreviated Ctrl-V). There are alsoshortcuts for selecting text. For example, holding the control key(Ctrl) while pressing the ‘A’ key (abbreviated Ctrl-A) selects all thetext on a page or in a document, etc.

Many systems or data entry applications exist in which data from onesystem must be copied into data entry screens of another. For example,one might find themselves cutting paragraphs from their resume andpasting the cut paragraphs into an online employment web site. Anotherexample is a loan application. In such, the applicant needs to supplyprior loan data to complete an application. Instead of typing long loannumbers and details regarding each existing loan, the applicant mightchoose to copy and paste such information from existing loan data webpages into a loan application web page. Because the existing loan dataweb pages have independent fields for loan numbers, loan amounts, etc.,the applicant will find they are copying and pasting small amounts ofdata at a time, going back and fourth between the existing loan webpages and the loan application page many times. Additionally, because itis easy to select an incorrect amount of data (e.g., a selectionexcludes one digit), this method is prone to errors.

It would be easier for such users to cut large sections of source dataand paste them into the destination page, but no such system exists.U.S. Pat. No. 6,944,821 to Bates, et al, describes an annotated pastebuffer with a first field for copied information and a second field forsource information relating to the copied information. A copy/pastemechanism copies the user selected information into the first field andgathers the appropriate information relating to the source of the copiedinformation into the second field in the annotated paste buffer. It doesnot provide for actively selecting information from the copiedinformation and pasting that information into organized target fields.

Other patents describe methods of authoring a web page by selecting andcutting from other web pages and pasting on a new web page, but they donot provide for actively selecting information from the copiedinformation and pasting that information into differently organizedtarget fields as well.

What is needed is a system that will accept a copy buffer containingmultiple fields of information, parse the copy buffer into independentdata and paste each independent data into target fields of a data entryscreen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a method of originating a consolidated student loanis disclosed including logging onto a student loan summary page andcopying all loan summary information from the student loan summary pageonto a clipboard then pasting the loan summary information from theclipboard into an insertion box of a loan consolidation data inputscreen. Next, the loan summary information is parsed from the insertionbox into individual data segments and target data fields are populatedwith the individual data segments.

In another embodiment, a system for originating a consolidated studentloan is disclosed including a server computer for processingconsolidated student loan applications and at least one data entryscreen presented by the server to a user. Each of the at least one dataentry screens has at least one insertion box for accepting data from aclip board and also has a number of target data fields. A parser parsesdata from the at least one data entry screen into individual fieldvalues and populates at least one of the target data fields with theindividual field values. The data is pasted into the at least oneinsertion box and the data includes more information than the pluralityof target data fields.

In another embodiment, a signal tangibly embodied in a propagationmedium comprising at least one instruction configured to implement asystem for originating a consolidated student loan is disclosedincluding computer readable instructions for presenting at least onedata entry screen and having at least one insertion box for acceptingdata from a clip board, each of the at least one data entry screens alsocomprising a plurality of target data fields. Computer readableinstructions are provided for parsing data from the at least one dataentry screen into individual field values and for populating at leastone of the at least one target data fields with at least one of theindividual field values. The data is from a paste operation into the atleast one insertion box and the data includes more information than theplurality of target data fields.

In another embodiment, a computer-based system for originating aconsolidated student loan is disclosed including a first server computerfor running a national student loan data service and a second servercomputer for running a consolidated student loan service. A clientcomputer is in network communications with the first server and with thesecond server and has software for accessing the first and secondservers. Software running on the first server computer presents currentstudent loan information screens to the client computer while softwarerunning on the second server for presents consolidated student loan datainput screens at the client computer. Software running on the clientcomputer provides for copying data from the current student loaninformation screens and into an insertion box on the consolidatedstudent loan data input screens on which there are also target datafields. Software running on the second server computer provides forparsing the data from the insertion box into individual field values andfor storing the individual field values in the target data fields. Thedata includes more information than needed in the target data fields.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill inthe art by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram showing an example data flow of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a typical loan consolidation user interface of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a typical login user interface of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a typical information gathering user interface of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a typical borrower information gathering userinterface of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a typical employer information gathering userinterface of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a typical references gathering user interface of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a typical loan information gathering user interfaceof the present invention.

FIG. 9A illustrates a typical NSLDS loan information screen of the priorart.

FIG. 10 illustrates a typical loan information gathering user interfacewith loan data pasted of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a typical loan detail information gathering userinterface of the present invention.

FIG. 11A illustrates a typical NSLDS loan detail information screen ofthe prior art.

FIG. 12 illustrates a typical loan detail information gathering userinterface with loan detail data pasted of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a typical loan detail information gathering userinterface with the loan detail data processed of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates a typical signature user interface of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 illustrates a typical summary information user interface of thepresent invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flow chart of the present invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates a second flow chart of the present invention.

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary loan data screen.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary loan data screen with an account numberhighlighted.

FIG. 20 illustrates a simplified exemplary loan data entry screen.

FIG. 21 illustrates a simplified exemplary loan data entry screen withthe account number pasted into the appropriate field.

FIG. 22 illustrates a simplified exemplary loan data entry screen withthe entire window highlighted.

FIG. 23 illustrates a second simplified exemplary loan data entryscreen.

FIG. 24 illustrates the simplified exemplary loan data entry screen withthe highlighted data from FIG. 22 pasted into a text box.

FIG. 25 illustrates the simplified exemplary loan data entry screenafter the highlighted data is processed.

FIG. 26 illustrates a typical computer system used by the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferredembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description,the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures.The description used to describe the operation of the present inventionrelates to a web-based loan consolidation service. In this, a user mustprovide data regarding all of their current student loans into the loanconsolidation application screens. The present invention providesmethods and apparatus to greatly increase the efficiency of a user inproviding this information. The present invention is not limited to aloan consolidation or a loan origination application. The presentinvention applies to any situation in which a user needs to copy datasegments from one application to input fields (or similar) of anotherapplication.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a system of the presentinvention is shown. In many software environments, the copy and pastefunction (sometimes referred to as cut and paste) saves users untoldamounts of time, precluding the need to retype what is already displayedon their computer monitor. In some examples, local data is highlightedas known in the industry, copied (which copies the data onto what isknown as the “clipboard”), and pasted. For example, if a user has anexisting document that has a paragraph that they wish to include in anew document, the user opens both documents, highlights the paragraphthey wish to copy and initiates the copy function, perhaps by using theshortcut of holding the control key and pressing the ‘C’ key (ctrl-c).Now the paragraph is copied onto the clipboard. The user now switches tothe new document, positions the cursor where they want to insert theparagraph and initiates the paste function, perhaps using the shortcutof holding the control key and pressing the ‘V’ key. The paragraph isnow inserted into the new document.

Another use of cut/copy and paste is to highlight text (and images) froma page of the Internet and pasting the text into a local document. Ofparticular interest to the present invention is cutting data from a pageof the internet and pasting those text/images into another page of theinternet. Presently, a user is able to copy from one internet page andpaste into another. For example, if the user wants to accurately copy along number from a display page on the internet into a data entry pageon the internet, the copy and paste function works well. The copyfunction requires that the user highlight exactly the text they want tocopy, perhaps using their mouse to highlight the text. This leads to thepossibility of error, perhaps from highlighting less than the full dataneeded or highlighting more data than necessary.

To show this, consider a loan consolidation application where a user hasmultiple existing loans (e.g., student loans) and needs to copy datafrom each of these loans into a consolidation data entry page of a loanapplication. The user has access to a student loan system 20 such as theNational Student Loan Data Service (NSLDS) provided by the United StatesDepartment of Education. At this site, the user (e.g., borrower) usprovided screens (e.g., web pages) to review their existing loans, makepayments, etc. The student loan system 20 has a database 22 for storingthis information. The user accesses this data through the internet 10from a client computer 30. Now, the user wants to apply for aconsolidated loan, combining all of their existing loans into one masterloan, perhaps with a better interest rate or payment terms. To do so,the user accesses the loan consolidation server 40 and copies data fromeach of the multiple loans onto data entry pages of the loanconsolidation system 40 and, eventually, the data are stored in aconsolidation loan database 42. Because the required data is stored inmultiple fields in the student loan system 20, prior to the presentinvention, the user had to either retype the information or repeatedlycopy and paste from the student loan display pages into theconsolidation pages. The present invention greatly reduces the number ofcopy and paste operations, thereby reducing the chance of error whileimproving the user interface and customer satisfaction.

Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram showing an example data flow of thepresent invention is shown. In this example, a typical student loanreport 50 is a summary report showing three loans (loan-1, loan-2 andloan-3). With the present invention, the entire loan summary page 50 iscopied (copied to the clip board 52) as known in the industry. When thedata is pasted from the clip board 52 onto the loan application summarypage 56, the data passes through a parser 54 that checks to make surethe user copied valid information and then parses the information intoindependent data the corresponds to the data entry fields of the loanapplication input user interface 56. The independent data from theparser is then pasted into each independent field of the loanapplication form 56. With this, the user only need copy the entire pagefrom the student loan report 50 using ctrl-a (highlight everything onthe page), ctrl-c (copy the entire page including white space andgraphics) then select the data entry box 57 on the loan application 56and paste the entire page using ctrl-v (any other copy and pastecommands are also anticipated). The parser 54 removes all of theunneeded information, storing only the required loan information in thetarget fields of the loan application 56.

Referring to FIG. 3, a typical loan consolidation user interface of thepresent invention is shown. In this example, the loan consolidation userinterface 100 provides a facility for a returning user to login 102 andlinks for a user to create an account 104, complete an application 106and sign a completed application 108. In some embodiments, otherfeatures are available on the various user interface pages as known inthe industry.

Referring to FIG. 4, a typical login user interface of the presentinvention is shown. This exemplary login user interface 110 requests auser name 112 (email address in this example) and password 114. Afterthe user enters their credentials, they select the “login” icon 116 andtheir credentials are checked as known in the industry, and if correct,access to subsequent user interface screens is provided.

Referring to FIG. 5, a typical information gathering user interface ofthe present invention is shown. In this information gathering userinterface 120, the user is prompted to enter a referral code 122 andselect how they heard about the site 124 before selecting the “next”icon 126. This is an example and in other embodiments, informationgathering is not used or other information is requested.

Referring to FIG. 6, a typical borrower information gathering userinterface of the present invention is shown. In the borrower informationgathering user interface 130, the user enters various information 132regarding the borrower, for example, their name, address, socialsecurity number, graduation date, etc. Once complete, the user selectsthe “next” icon 134 to proceed.

Referring to FIG. 7, a typical employer information gathering userinterface of the present invention is shown. The employer user interface140 is provided in some embodiments to collect employment information144 relating to the borrower such as company name and address. If theborrower is not employed, they select a check box 142 indicating suchbefore selecting the “next” icon 146 and proceeding to the next userinterface page. In some embodiments, more or less employment informationis collected.

Referring to FIG. 8, a typical references gathering user interface ofthe present invention is shown. In this typical references gatheringuser interface 150, the user enters contact information for tworeferences 152/154 who know the borrower. Once completed, the userselects the “next” icon 156 to proceed to the next user interface page.In some embodiments, more or less reference information is collected.

Referring to FIG. 9, a typical loan information gathering user interfaceof the present invention is shown. The loan information gathering userinterface 160 gathers summary information regarding all of the loans theborrower has. Instead of requiring the user to copy/paste (or type)information regarding each of their current loans into individualfields, the present invention provides detail, step-by-step directions164 on how to open the NSLDS web site to view their summary loaninformation and detail instructions 166 regarding how to copy all of thedata from the NSLDS loan summary page 300 (see FIG. 9A) (using ctrl-a,ctrl-c) then pasting the data into the text box 168 (using ctrl-v). The“process” function 169 is discussed later.

Referring to FIG. 9A, a typical NSLDS loan information screen of theprior art is shown. This screen is typical of the National Student LoanData Service, operated by the United States Department of Education. Theloan information screen 300 contains information regarding all studentloans for which the user is accountable in the “Loans” area 302. Note,the third loan 304 in the amount of $2625 306. Details of this loan areshown in FIG. 11A.

Referring to FIG. 10, a typical loan information gathering userinterface with loan data pasted of the present invention is shown. Thisview of the loan information gathering user interface 160 shows the textbox 170 filled in with data copied from the NSLDS loan summary page 300.As shown, the individual loan data is shown along with other text fromthe NSLDS loan summary page. For example, two lines 171 include detailinformation regarding a Stafford loan of $2,565.Now that the NSLDS loansummary data is copied into the text box 170, the user selects the“process” icon 169 to process the loan summary data.

Referring to FIG. 11, a typical loan detail information gathering userinterface of the present invention is shown. The typical loan detailinformation gathering user interface 180 has been populated with thedetailed loan data that was previously pasted into the text box 170. Theparser 54 has processed the loan summary data from the text box 170 intoindividual loan summary fields (target fields). For example, the twolines 171 regarding the Stafford loan of $2565 were parsed and copiedinto individual fields relating to loan-1 181. Multiple open loansappear in separate rows 182 of the loan detail information gatheringuser interface 180. Note that certain columns have no information suchas Service Provider 185, Status 187 and Interest Rate 189. This isbecause this information is not available on the student loan summaryinformation page from the NSLDS. To obtain this information that isrequired to complete the consolidate loan application, the user isinstructed 184 to select each loan (starting with loan-1) on the NSLDSsite, opening a detail page for each loan 310 (see FIG. 11A), and whileat each detail page, copying the entire page (ctrl-a, ctrl-c) thenpasting (ctrl-v) the entire page into the detail text box 177. The“process” 188 function is described later.

Referring to FIG. 11A, a typical NSLDS loan detail information screen ofthe prior art is shown. This particular NSLDS detail loan page 310 isfor loan-3. It identifies the loan sequence number of 3 304 and the loanamount of $2,625 306. The detail information area 312 contains variousdetails; some needed to complete the consolidation application andothers not needed.

Referring to FIG. 12, a typical loan detail information gathering userinterface with loan detail data pasted of the present invention isshown. The loan detail user interface 180 is now shown with the detailedloan information for loan-1 pasted in the detail text box 177. This loandetail information includes information similar to that on the loansummary screen 300 such as the loan amount of $2,408 183 plus otherinformation that is needed but not present on the loan summary screen300 such as the interest rate of 6.800% 179. After pasting the data intothe detail text box 177, the user selects the “process” icon 188 toprocess the data.

Referring to FIG. 13, a typical loan detail information gathering userinterface 180 with the loan detail data processed of the presentinvention is shown. Once pasted, the user selects the “process” icon 188and the parser 54 checks the data in the detail text box 177 to makesure the user pasted proper information (e.g., makes sure the loannumber is loan-1). Now the data from the detail text box 177 is parsedby the parser 54 to extract the Service 185, Status 187 and InterestRate 189 data and this data is pasted into the corresponding targetfields of the column related to the first loan 181. The detail loan datacopy steps 184 are then repeated for each active loan until the entireloan detail information user interface 180 is populated with detail loaninformation.

Referring to FIG. 14, a typical signature user interface of the presentinvention is shown. In the signature user interface 190, the signatureprocess is described 191 and if the user agrees, the user selects the “Iagree” icon 192 to concur and sign their application. In otherembodiments, no signature is required or other forms of signaturecapture are provided as known in the industry.

Referring to FIG. 15, a typical summary information user interface ofthe present invention is shown. The summary information user interface196 summarizes the next steps in the loan process. Once finished readingthis page, the user selects the “finish” icon 198 to finish the entireprocess. In some embodiments, other user interfaces are presented asknown in the industry.

Referring to FIG. 16, a flow chart of the present invention is shown.The flow starts when data is copied to the clip board 200. Prior to thepresent invention, a selection of data was copied to the clip board. Forexample, if a user needs to supply an account number to a data entryscreen and this account number is visible in a different window, theuser highlights the account number in that window, views the data entryscreen (e.g., switches context to the data entry screen), selects thelocation where the account number is to go and pastes (ctrl-v) theaccount number into that location. Referring to FIG. 16, using methodsof the present invention, the user highlights a section of the sourcewindow 200. This selection is, in some embodiments, the entire sourcewindow. In other embodiments, it is a section, paragraph, etc. The userthen copies the highlighted data to the clipboard 201 using the copyfunction (e.g., ctrl-c). The user then pastes the highlighted data fromthe clipboard to the insertion box or copy box 202. When the userselects “process”, the parser parses the copied data into theappropriate target fields 204.

Referring to FIG. 17, a second flow chart of the present invention isshown. In this example, the data is copied onto the clipboard 200 andpasted into the copy box 202 as in FIG. 16. In the example of FIG. 17, asearch of the data in the copy box 202 is made to find preamble text 210that assures the user is on the appropriate NSLDS screen. For example,the text string “Aid Summary for:” should appear in the text box (seeFIG. 9A). If the pre-data text is not valid 212, an error is reported(e.g., the user is instructed to copy data from the correct page). Ifthe pre-data text is valid 212, in some embodiments, a search is madefor post-data text 214 such as “WhiteHouse.gov (see FIG. 9A). If thepost-data text is found and valid 216, the data in the copy block isparsed and the appropriate data elements stored in the target fields218. If the post-data text is not valid 216, an error is reported (e.g.,the user is instructed to copy data from the correct page). Using boththe pre-text test and the post-text test provides a level of assurancethat the user correctly copied the correct page and the appropriateamount of information from that page.

Referring to FIGS. 18-21, the process of copying information from a loandata screen to a loan application screen of the prior art will bedescribed. An exemplary loan data screen 240 is shown in FIG. 18. It hasdata regarding a single existing loan and an “OK” selection icon forproceeding to the next screen, etc. To originate a new loan, the userneeds to copy certain data from this screen 240 to the loan applicationscreen 250 (FIGS. 20-21). Prior to the present invention, the userneeded to highlight each data from the loan data screen 240. As anexample in FIG. 19, the account number 244 is highlighted; then thehighlighted data is copied (onto the clipboard); then the loanapplication screen 250 is viewed; then the destination for the accountnumber 254 (FIG. 20) is selected; and the account number 244 is pastedinto the destination cell 254 (FIG. 21). These steps need to be repeatedfor each data that was needed for the loan application. The “OK” icon242 is used in navigation.

Referring to FIGS. 22-25, the process of copying information from a loandata screen to a loan application screen of the present invention willbe described. In FIG. 22, the user has highlighted 246 the entire loandata screen 240. In this simplified example, all of the field names anddata values 246 are highlighted. As per the described methods, afterhighlighting the entire page (e.g., using the ctrl-a) the user copiesthe entire page onto the clipboard (e.g., using ctrl-v). Next, the usernavigates to the destination page which, in this example, is asimplified loan application data entry page 251 and selects (clicks on)the insertion box 252 (as in FIG. 23) then pastes the copied page fromthe clipboard into the insertion box 252, placing the copied data intothe insertion box 252 (as shown in FIG. 24). When the user selects(clicks on) the “process” icon 256 (or equivalent), the parser 54process the data as described previously and places the individual dataitem into the target fields (as in FIG. 25). For example, the accountnumber is now in the account number target field 254 of the loanapplication data entry page 251. Note that with one copy/pasteoperation, all needed data is copied from the loan data screen 240 intothe target field locations of the loan application data entry page 251.In most web applications, other types of data such as icons and imagesare highlighted as well and copied into the insertion box along with thefield names and data values.

The parsers uses techniques known in the industry to find the neededdata items, cut them out of the insertion box 252 and insert each dataitem in its target location 254. For example, the parser 54 found theaccount number in the insertion box and inserted it in the accountnumber field 254. In this example, a simple parser would search for thestring “Account Number:” in the insertion box 252, then copy thecharacters following the space up to the end of line character into thetarget location 254. As an example, a code segment of the parser may be:

char sstring[ ] = “Account Number:”; char *p, *q; char *d; p =insertion_box; d = &target_location; while(*p != ‘\0’){   if(*p ==sstring[0]){     q = sstring;     while(*q != ‘\0’){       if(*p != *q){        break;       }       ++p;       ++q;     }     //if end ofsstring     if(*q == ‘\0’){     //p points to first char of acct    while(*p != ‘\n’){       //copy the acct# to the target loc       *d++ = *p++;     }   }else{     // error - “Account Number: ” not found  } }

Referring to FIG. 26, a schematic diagram of a computer system of allembodiments of the present invention will be described. Although shownin its simplest form, having a single processor, many different computerarchitectures are known that accomplish similar results in a similarfashion and the present invention is not limited in any way to anyparticular computer system. The present invention works well utilizing asingle processor system as shown in FIG. 26, a multiple processor systemwhere multiple processors share resources such as memory and storage, amultiple server system where several independent servers operate inparallel (perhaps having shared access to the data or any combination.In the example shown, a processor 410 is provided to execute storedprograms that are generally stored for execution within a memory 420.The processor 410 can be any processor or a group of processors, forexample an Intel Pentium-4® CPU or the like. The memory 420 is connectedto the processor through a memory bus 415. The memory 420 is any memorysuitable for connection with the selected processor 410, such as SRAM,DRAM, SDRAM, RDRAM, DDR, DDR-2, etc. Firmware is stored in firmwarestorage 425 that is connected to the processor 410, also through thememory bus 415 and may include initialization software known as BIOS.

Also connected to the processor 410 is a system bus 430 for connectingto peripheral subsystems such as a network interface 480, a hard disk440, a CDROM 450, a graphics adapter 460 and a keyboard/mouse 470. Thegraphics adapter 460 receives commands and display information from thesystem bus 430 and generates a display image that is displayed on thedisplay 465.

In general, the hard disk 440 may be used to store programs, executablecode and data persistently, while the CDROM 450 may be used to load saidprograms, executable code and data from removable media onto the harddisk 440. These peripherals are meant to be examples of input/outputdevices, persistent storage and removable media storage. Other examplesof persistent storage include core memory, FRAM, flash memory, etc.Other examples of removable media storage include CDRW, DVD, DVDwriteable, compact flash, other removable flash media, floppy disk,ZIP®, etc. In some embodiments, other devices are connected to thesystem through the system bus 430 or with other input-outputconnections. Examples of these devices include printers; graphicstablets; joysticks; and communications adapters such as modems andEthernet adapters.

The network interface 480 connects the computer-based system to theworld-wide-web 10 through a link 485 which is, preferably, a high speedlink such as a cable broadband connection, a Digital Subscriber Loop(DSL) broadband connection, a T1 line or a T3 line.

Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above suchthat they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially thesame way for achieving substantially the same result.

It is believed that the system and method of the present invention andmany of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoingdescription. It is also believed that it will be apparent that variouschanges may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of thecomponents thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. Theform herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatoryembodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims toencompass and include such changes.

1. A method of originating a consolidated student loan, the methodcomprising: logging onto a student loan summary page; copying all loansummary information from the student loan summary page onto a clipboard;pasting the loan summary information from the clipboard into aninsertion box of a loan consolidation data input screen; parsing theloan summary information from the insertion box into individual datasegments; and populating target data fields with the individual datasegments.
 2. The method of originating a consolidated student loan ofclaim 1, wherein the step of copying uses a shortcut key of ctrl-a tohighlight the loan summary information from the student loan summarypage and uses a shortcut key of ctrl-c to copy the loan summaryinformation from the student loan summary page onto the clipboard. 3.The method of originating a consolidated student loan of claim 1,wherein the step of pasting uses a shortcut key of ctrl-v to paste theloan summary information from the clipboard into the insertion box ofthe loan consolidation data input screen.
 4. The method of originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:for each student loan in the loan summary information: copying loandetail information for the student loan from a student loan detail pageonto the clipboard; pasting the loan detail information from theclipboard into a second insertion box of a loan consolidation loandetail data input screen; parsing the loan detail information intoindividual loan detail data segments; and populating loan detail targetfields with the individual loan detail data segments of the loanconsolidation loan detail data input screen.
 5. The method oforiginating a consolidated student loan of claim 1, wherein the step ofparsing further includes the step of checking for pre-text data in theloan summary information.
 6. The method of originating a consolidatedstudent loan of claim 5, wherein the step of parsing further includesthe step of checking for post-text data in the loan summary information.7. A system for originating a consolidated student loan, the systemcomprising: a server computer for processing consolidated student loanapplications; at least one data entry screen presented by the server toa user; each of the at least one data entry screens having at least oneinsertion box for accepting data from a clip board, each of the at leastone data entry screen also comprising a plurality of target data fields;and a parser adapted to parse data from the at least one data entryscreen into individual field values and the parser adapted to populateat least one of the at least one target data fields with at least one ofthe individual field values; whereas the data is pasted into the atleast one insertion box and the data includes more information than theplurality of target data fields.
 8. The system for originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 7, wherein the data is a copy of aloan summary page of the National Student Loan Data Service.
 9. Thesystem for originating a consolidated student loan of claim 7, whereinthe data is a copy of a loan detail page of the National Student LoanData Service.
 10. The system for originating a consolidated student loanof claim 8, wherein the target data fields include a loan type field, aloan date field and a loan principal field.
 11. The system fororiginating a consolidated student loan of claim 9, wherein the targetdata fields include a loan servicer field, a loan status field and aloan interest rate field.
 12. A signal tangibly embodied in apropagation medium comprising at least one instruction configured toimplement a system for originating a consolidated student loan, whereinthe at least one instruction comprises: computer readable instructionsfor presenting at least one data entry screen; each of the at least onedata entry screens having at least one insertion box for accepting datafrom a clip board, each of the at least one data entry screens alsocomprising a plurality of target data fields; computer readableinstructions for parsing data from the at least one data entry screeninto individual field values; and computer readable instructions forpopulating at least one of the at least one target data fields with atleast one of the individual field values; whereas the data is from apaste operation into the at least one insertion box and the dataincludes more information than the plurality of target data fields. 13.The signal tangibly embodied in a propagation medium comprising at leastone instruction configured to implement a system for originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 12, wherein the data is a copy of aloan summary page of the National Student Loan Data Service.
 14. Thesignal tangibly embodied in a propagation medium comprising at least oneinstruction configured to implement a system for originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 12, wherein the data is a copy of aloan detail page of the National Student Loan Data Service.
 15. Thesignal tangibly embodied in a propagation medium comprising at least oneinstruction configured to implement a system for originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 13, wherein the target data fieldsinclude a loan type field, a loan date field and a loan principal field.16. The signal tangibly embodied in a propagation medium comprising atleast one instruction configured to implement a system for originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 14, wherein the target data fieldsinclude a loan servicer field, a loan status field and a loan interestrate field.
 17. A computer-based system for originating a consolidatedstudent loan, the computer-based system comprising: a first servercomputer for running a national student loan data service; a secondserver computer for running a consolidated student loan service; aclient computer in network communications with the first server and withthe second server, the client computer running software modules foraccessing the first server and accessing the second server; softwaremodules running on the first server computer for presenting currentstudent loan information screens at the client computer; softwaremodules running on the second server for presenting consolidated studentloan data input screens at the client computer; software modules runningon the client computer for copying data from the current student loaninformation screens; a copy insertion field on the consolidated studentloan data input screens; a plurality of target data fields on theconsolidated student loan data input screen; software modules running onthe client computer for pasting the data into an insertion box on theconsolidated student loan data input screens; software modules runningon the second server computer for parsing the data from the insertionbox into individual field values; and software modules running on thesecond server computer for storing the individual field values in thetarget data fields, whereas the data includes more information thanneeded in the target data fields.
 18. The computer-based system fororiginating a consolidated student loan of claim 17, wherein the data isa copy of a loan summary page of the National Student Loan Data Service.19. The computer-based system for originating a consolidated studentloan of claim 17, wherein the data is a copy of a loan detail page ofthe National Student Loan Data Service.
 20. The computer-based systemfor originating a consolidated student loan of claim 18, wherein thetarget data fields include a loan type field, a loan date field and aloan principal field.
 21. The computer-based system for originating aconsolidated student loan of claim 19, wherein the target data fieldsinclude a loan servicer field, a loan status field and a loan interestrate field.